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TEACHING

The Jean Monnet Chair “Multiple Roles of Translation in Minority Multilingual Romani Contexts” supports the adaptation and revision of existing courses and the creation of new courses taught in the Translation Studies sector of the Département d’études françaises by Professor Folaron.

These courses are offered at Concordia University during the following terms:

Fall 2021

This graduate seminar course explores and examines the social and political contexts that influence translation and translator practices. Diverse perspectives are considered: bilingual and multilingual social situations; political structures and language policies; the unique dynamics and specificities of minoritized linguistic and cultural contexts in translation; the role of ethics; migration; translation in the European Union; and new and emerging translation markets and areas of research for minoritized language groups. The translation practices and conceptual research frameworks of these contexts, when examined in relation to their social and political situations and histories, allow us to rethink translational dynamics in all its complexity.

Winter 2022

This graduate/undergraduate seminar course, offered in English, considers the practices that have been emerging from the convergence of contemporary technologies, the multilingual Web, the digital world, and translation. While translation is one of the oldest communication practices in the world, it is also very much a product of its times. Students examine the various aspects and issues that the digital world brings to the translation landscape, and vice versa. On the one hand, flows of digital information and communication move through technologies across borders in our globalizing world. On the other hand, these digital flows collide with geographical and political boundaries, forcing diverse stake­holders (governments, institutions, organizations, companies, civil society) to deal with physical borders and concepts in a digital space and ecosystem. These trends, accelerated by myriad automated processes, algorithms, and artificial intelligence, have a major impact on translation as well — including machine translation. Taken together, information and communication technologies (ICTs), mobile devices, the internet and Web are an integral, ubiquitous, pervasive, and guiding force in today's cultures and societies. As our societies are increasingly transformed into multi-level digital societies, they challenge us to think beyond easily constructed categories or simplified concepts, and raise important questions. ‘Who' is accountable for ‘what' within the networked complexity of digital ecosystems? To what extent are automated agents and apps (including for machine translation) responsible for the content they generate? How does the increasing digitalization of our markets, economies, and notions of work affect social and political integration, government policies, governance, and citizenship? What is the role of AI ethics? Throughout this course, the multilingual context of the European Union serves as fertile ground for exploring and discussing these pertinent questions and issues.

*Offered as FTRA 668/568/418 “Web, Technologies, Translation” in 2022 and 2023

This graduate “special topics” seminar course, offered in English, presents a brief historical overview of the European Union, with emphasis on the basic principles of EU language policy and translation policy. It introduces the concepts that underpin the creation and development of the European Union and its role in the world today, including its relationship to Canada through the recent EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). Students discuss the challenges of European multilingualism, and its management through the official language and translation policies implemented within the EU and its diverse institutions. Equal consideration is given to the role of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) and its support for minoritized languages and minority language translation. The complexities of a multilingual minority context are exemplified by the linguistic-translational situation of Romani peoples, who collectively comprise Europe's largest ethnic minority and reside as citizens within multiple nation-state borders, with literacy in different languages. By way of comparison with the Canadian context, students examine the various means by which translation is currently carried out in the multilingual EU context, e.g., by human and machine translation, and with internal and external translation services managed by the Directorate-General for Translation (DGT). Also examined are the “competence” skill-sets and levels that are provided by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and the European Master's in Translation (EMT), among others. Lastly, students look at some of the digital transformations occurring within the contemporary EU, and consider e-democracy and AI initiatives in terms of the conceptual frameworks by which the European Union was founded.

*Offered as FTRA 698/598 “Special Topics: EU Language Policy and Translation Policy” in 2022 and 2023

Fall 2022

This graduate seminar course explores and examines the social and political contexts that influence translation and translator practices. Diverse perspectives are considered: bilingual and multilingual social situations; political structures and language policies; the unique dynamics and specificities of minoritized linguistic and cultural contexts in translation; the role of ethics; migration; translation in the European Union; and new and emerging translation markets and areas of research for minoritized language groups. The translation practices and conceptual research frameworks of these contexts, when examined in relation to their social and political situations and histories, allow us to rethink translational dynamics in all its complexity.

Winter 2023

This graduate/undergraduate seminar course, offered in English, considers the practices that have been emerging from the convergence of contemporary technologies, the multilingual Web, the digital world, and translation. While translation is one of the oldest communication practices in the world, it is also very much a product of its times. Students examine the various aspects and issues that the digital world brings to the translation landscape, and vice versa. On the one hand, flows of digital information and communication move through technologies across borders in our globalizing world. On the other hand, these digital flows collide with geographical and political boundaries, forcing diverse stake­holders (governments, institutions, organizations, companies, civil society) to deal with physical borders and concepts in a digital space and ecosystem. These trends, accelerated by myriad automated processes, algorithms, and artificial intelligence, have a major impact on translation as well — including machine translation. Taken together, information and communication technologies (ICTs), mobile devices, the internet and Web are an integral, ubiquitous, pervasive, and guiding force in today's cultures and societies. As our societies are increasingly transformed into multi-level digital societies, they challenge us to think beyond easily constructed categories or simplified concepts, and raise important questions. ‘Who' is accountable for ‘what' within the networked complexity of digital ecosystems? To what extent are automated agents and apps (including for machine translation) responsible for the content they generate? How does the increasing digitalization of our markets, economies, and notions of work affect social and political integration, government policies, governance, and citizenship? What is the role of AI ethics? Throughout this course, the multilingual context of the European Union serves as fertile ground for exploring and discussing these pertinent questions and issues.

*Offered as FTRA 668/568/418 “Web, Technologies, Translation” in 2022 and 2023

This graduate “special topics” seminar course, offered in English, presents a brief historical overview of the European Union, with emphasis on the basic principles of EU language policy and translation policy. It introduces the concepts that underpin the creation and development of the European Union and its role in the world today, including its relationship to Canada through the recent EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). Students discuss the challenges of European multilingualism, and its management through the official language and translation policies implemented within the EU and its diverse institutions. Equal consideration is given to the role of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) and its support for minoritized languages and minority language translation. The complexities of a multilingual minority context are exemplified by the linguistic-translational situation of Romani peoples, who collectively comprise Europe's largest ethnic minority and reside as citizens within multiple nation-state borders, with literacy in different languages. By way of comparison with the Canadian context, students examine the various means by which translation is currently carried out in the multilingual EU context, e.g., by human and machine translation, and with internal and external translation services managed by the Directorate-General for Translation (DGT). Also examined are the “competence” skill-sets and levels that are provided by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and the European Master's in Translation (EMT), among others. Lastly, students look at some of the digital transformations occurring within the contemporary EU, and consider e-democracy and AI initiatives in terms of the conceptual frameworks by which the European Union was founded.

*Offered as FTRA 698/598 “Special Topics: EU Language Policy and Translation Policy” in 2022 and 2023

Acknowledgements

With the support of the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union

The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

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